One Direction, often referred to as 1D, was a boy band formed in 2010 on the British reality music competition show “The X Factor” and consisted of members Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson. Participants auditioned on “The X Factor” by singing in front of a live audience and a table of judges, with the best auditionees being selected to advance in the competition to win a recording contract with Sony Music Entertainment. Though each of the 1D members originally auditioned as a solo act, the judges were quick to pair them all together as a group.
“They’re just too talented to get rid of,” singer-songwriter and “The X Factor” judge Nicole Scherzinger said at the time. “They’ve got just the right look and the right charisma onstage. They’re like little stars. You can’t get rid of little stars, you know? So you put them all together.”
Though 1D would not win the competition, the group quickly garnered popularity overnight and garnered the attention of “The X Factor” judge Simon Cowell. Soon after the show’s conclusion the group signed to Cowell’s label Syco Records, releasing their first single “What Makes You Beautiful” in 2011.
“‘What Makes You Beautiful’ is my favorite song because one of my first memories was being in kindergarten [and listening to it],” senior Rebecca Roff said. “When I found out that the song was sung by [1D] I’ve been a fan.”
The song, which is about a boy telling the girl that she is absolutely beautiful inside and out, would chart number one on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. This success built momentum for the group’s first album, “Up All Night,” which rose to number one on the US Billboard 200. The band would continue releasing chart-topping singles such as “Live While We’re Young,” “Kiss Me” and “Best Song Ever” in the following years, their quirky, charming demeanors and lyrics helping to build a steady fanbase (with fans being dubbed “Directioners”).
“To me, 1D was just really fun,” sophomore Annalee Hughes said. “I think they were special because they were really just a group of kids having a good time. It didn’t feel forced or fake. It just felt like a bunch of friends doing fun things together which was incredibly special. Their chemistry as a group was great and [they all fully] seemed to enjoy being a band.”
Though 1D’s lyricism was admittedly not very complex in their early works (“I can’t be no Superman, but for you I’ll be superhuman” in “Save You Tonight” or “We’re like na, na, na. Then we’re like yeah, yeah, yeah” in “Na, Na, Na”), their artistry evolved as each member got more involved in the songwriting process (“Although I am broken my heart is untamed still” in “Story of My Life” and “How many nights does it take to count the stars? That’s the time it would take to fix my heart” in “Infinity”).
“My favorite 1D song is ‘Wolves’ because it’s a fun song, and I like the melody of it,” Hughes said. “And honestly, I don’t think I could pick a favorite lyric because there’s just so many good ones.”
In 2015, Malik famously decided to step back from the group to pursue a solo career, leaving his bandmates to release a final album “Made in the A.M.” in 2016 before the band announced a hiatus. Though the break was initially proposed as temporary, the members quickly grew into their own artists and have since released a multitude of projects, most recently Styles’s “Harry’s House,” Horan’s “The Show,” Malik’s “Room Under the Stairs,” Payne’s “LP1” and Tomlinson’s “Faith in the Future.” While fans were hopeful for an eventual reunion, in October 2024 Directioners alongside the world were shocked when it was announced Payne, aged 31, died.
“I was totally shocked when I found out he died,” Hughes said. “I didn’t even believe it at first. I just thought ‘There’s no way.’ It was crazy to me.”
Payne’s passing brings to the spotlight not only the impact of his artistry but the impact of 1D. Boy bands and their members are often labeled as not serious and silly as they are usually young at the height of their popularity and appeal to teenage girls, a demographic many label as the opposite of dignified. However, when examining 1D, it is undeniable that the band made an incredibly large impact on not just Directioners but pop culture—1D created a space for fans across the world to laugh at their antics, cry and scream along to their songs and grow alongside them for over 10 years. 1D is an embodiment of goofy 2010s pop culture, childhood and is a haven of hit songs and broken records one can always return to and instantly be transported back in time. Though Payne has passed and the band will never truly have a reunion or ever be the same without him, it is as 1D sings: “Everything that you’ve ever dreamed of disappearing when you wake up, but there’s nothing to be afraid of even when the night changes. It will never change me and you.” 1D’s music will remain incredibly dear to fans, evermore so now that they will never see the band together again.
“When I heard Liam died I was in shock, but I also felt sorrow,” Roff said. “Many fans knew Liam was one of the band members who wanted to get the band back together the most, and now he’ll never get that chance. [So even more so now] I would say 1Ds music is very nostalgic and takes [fans] back to childhood memories [because] they brought people across the world together. Many people would say they were one of the best boy bands in the world.”
